Rapid Transit

[SteelTown]

I'm sure council will vote in favour especially now that the province will pay full cost.

Yea
Johnson
Farr
Green
Merulla
Pearson
Ferguson
Whitehead
Eisenberger
Johnson

Nay
Collins
Conley

Rest I'm not sure, but even all voted Nay the Yea still has a majority.

[MoreTrains]

Well, lucky for Hamilton, if they are worried about loosing lanes, just TBM it! The provinces said whatever the price tag right? Make it all underground, out of gold, and diamonds and money fountains! Really, if any councillor votes no, for something of this magnitude that is free, they should be strung up, shot then stoned.

[durandy]

Originally Posted by MoreTrains

Well, lucky for Hamilton, if they are worried about loosing lanes, just TBM it! The provinces said whatever the price tag right? Make it all underground, out of gold, and diamonds and money fountains! Really, if any councillor votes no, for something of this magnitude that is free, they should be strung up, shot then stoned.

Lol we're already in a losing battle suing the feds for the red hill expressway, but i do like your style of thinking.

[SteelTown]

Great to speak with Mayor @fredeisenberger to discuss how we can work together to support #HamOnt.
https://twitter.com/Kathleen_Wynne/s...76653430112257

[Berklon]

Didn't the city turn down free money in the past resulting in Vancouver getting the Skytrain instead?

[MalcolmTucker]

Agreeing to fund cost overruns is a lot easier when you force the city to deliver using infrastructure Ontario so council can't continually change the scope.

Politically, he should maybe have asked the Premier if it was ok to share ...

[thistleclub]

Hmm. The Globe & Mail's Adrian Morrow tweets:

.@Kathleen_Wynne won't commit to fully funding LRT or other rapid transit in Hamilton. Just that the province will "work with Hamilton."

@ericgillis @Huzaifa47 @FredEisenberger Did she say fully funded? Okay, I missed that. But yes, definitely didn't say LRT

@ericgillis @Huzaifa47 @FredEisenberger She said "committed to the capital cost for Hamilton." I guess that could mean fully? Vague, though


Morrow’s framing of Wynne’s words:

"We have said all along that we are committed to build the rapid transit in Hamilton," @Kathleen_Wynne says #onpoli

"There has been a back-and-forth in Hamilton about what that rapid transit will be," Wynne says #onpoli

.@Kathleen_Wynne says government is "committed to capital funding" for Hamilton rapid transit. She won't use the term LRT #onpoli

.@Kathleen_Wynne won't commit to fully funding LRT or other rapid transit in Hamilton. Just that the province will "work with Hamilton."

So, it's not clear whether the province will or won't pay 100 per cent of the cost for building a Hamilton LRT. Wynne was vague. #onpoli

Wynne's exact words: “We’ve committed to the capital cost for Hamilton." I asked if that means 100 per cent, but no response #onpoli

[LikeHamilton]

Originally Posted by Berklon

Didn't the city turn down free money in the past resulting in Vancouver getting the Skytrain instead?

Yes!

[Beedok]

My summation of what's happened so far: Blargalblargalblar!

That makes about as much sense as any communications between City Hall and Queen's Park.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

What a bloody soap opera...

Does anyone know what integrating 'LRT with GO, likely via a spur from B-line to James North station' means?

[MalcolmTucker]

Beside each other for transfers. Basically the entire basis of the big move.

[Dwils01]

This is great. Hamilton finally has a chance to improve their transit and the government is paying for it.
Please don't screw this up because you probably won't get another chance like this.

[bigguy1231]

Before you all get too excited, the Premier in her comments did not specify LRT or BRT, so I would be asking for something in writing before taking the word of the mayor.

The second problem is we couldn't even keep a bus lane going because people were complaining about the congestion it caused. Whats going to happen when people realize that 2 lanes of King street are going to be taken away from one end of the city to the other and none of the side streets will have access to King street. There will be a revolt in this city if they try to turn King street into what is almost exclusively a streetcar corridor.

[flar]

Originally Posted by bigguy1231

Before you all get too excited, the Premier in her comments did not specify LRT or BRT, so I would be asking for something in writing before taking the word of the mayor.

The second problem is we couldn't even keep a bus lane going because people were complaining about the congestion it caused. Whats going to happen when people realize that 2 lanes of King street are going to be taken away from one end of the city to the other and none of the side streets will have access to King street. There will be a revolt in this city if they try to turn King street into what is almost exclusively a streetcar corridor.

Congestion, wow. I think the idea of congestion in Hamilton is having to stop at a traffic light, or having to slow down to 50km/h

Ironically, Hamilton actually doesn't have enough congestion to warrant the bus lane.

[HillStreetBlues]

Originally Posted by bigguy1231

There will be a revolt in this city if they try to turn King street into what is almost exclusively a streetcar corridor.

Use Main instead.

Here is a question for those in the know: is the feasibility study and study of routing and consultation and so on so old now that new ones will have to be unertaken?

[thistleclub]

Raise the Hammer’s Ryan McGreal has an interesting perspective on this disconnect.

[thistleclub]

Originally Posted by HillStreetBlues

Here is a question for those in the know: is the feasibility study and study of routing and consultation and so on so old now that new ones will have to be undertaken?

Municipal Class EAs have a 10-year lifespan, AFAIK. Rapid Ready is two years old — and the EA for B-Line Rapid Transit Project was completed three years ago.

[thistleclub]

Today's Spec:

“The mayor also said the province wants to co-ordinate planning of Hamilton rapid transit with electrification of the Lakeshore GO line — including a hoped-for spur that connects to the city's new James Street GO station.”

The suggested spur and the resulting connectivity is certainly consistent with the province’s push for a seamless regional network fanned out around transit hubs. (Consider that Mississauga’s proposed Hurontario-Main LRT route would ultimately connect Brampton, Cooksville and Port Credit GO Stations, plus huge bus hubs like the Square One GO Bus Terminal and Brampton Gateway Terminal.) Even so, the province’s purported position here is ambiguous.

Queen’s Park wants to coordinate planning of Hamilton rapid transit with electrification of the Lakeshore GO line. So that potentially defers even planning Hamilton rapid transit — whether BRT or LRT of some indeterminate routing or length — until such time as they have completed Lakeshore electrification to James GO (a Phase 5 priority, ETA 2028).

This allows the province to reevaluate commitments at a later date — after the ridership demand at James GO has been established and the business case for a “hoped-for” rapid transit spur from the station has emerged. It also has the budgetary benefit of allowing the GO RER to take as much of the GTHA transit fund as it needs to, rescoping the Big Move accordingly.

[thistleclub]

Wynne avoids saying LRT
(Hamilton Spectator, Andrew Dreschel, Jan 27 2015)

Talk about taking the glow off.

Just when it looked like the city finally had funding clarity on LRT, for some reason Premier Kathleen Wynne studiously avoided using the "L" word.

Mere hours after Mayor Fred Eisenberger emerged from their meeting to announce the province was committed to paying 100 per cent capital funding for LRT, Wynne steered clear of referring to either light rail transit or LRT.

Again and again under questioning at a Monday afternoon news conference, Wynne said the province was committed to funding "rapid transit." But the L-word never once squeezed by her lips.

Was Wynne backtracking?

Was she signalling that Eisenberger had overstated her support or spoken out of turn?

The latter seems unlikely. Eisenberger says he clarified the message they were going to deliver to the media before leaving the meeting and it was full 100 per cent LRT funding.

The mayor admits he's mystified by the difference in Wynne's language and his own.


Read it in full here.

[MalcolmTucker]

Until there is a contribution agreement, it isn't wise to publicly commit. Talk about giving a blank cheque!